Seattle Mariners rumors: Dustin Ackley a trade target for potential deals

When it comes to potential trades for MLB teams that consider themselves buyers, there are a few different types of players that those teams are generally expected to give up to get the value they want for a postseason run.

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Prospects are the currency of these trades, of course, and especially pitching prospects. In recent years teams have targeted young power hitters as they try to rebuild their farm system. But besides these unknown, high-ceiling prospects, every now and then a player will emerge in a different context as a potential trade chip for a buyer to get what they want.

These are players like Seattle Mariners’ outfielder Dustin Ackley: a former top prospect who never quite clicked at the big league level who teams still believe they can mold into an impact player.

Jon Heyman of CBS reports that Ackley is on the radar of teams that are exploring potential trades with the Mariners.

Ackley is a career .242/.310/.351 hitter whose bat simply has never clicked at the big league level. He was originally a second baseman, which made his hit tool even more enticing to the Mariners. Instead he never started hitting, and the team eventually moved him to the outfield before they signed Robinson Cano as a free agent.

Whether potential trade partners view him as a second baseman or an outfielder, they are probably banking on the fact that they can provide him a change of scenery and a chance to get on track. Given his high ceiling back when he was a prospect, Ackley could have an interesting impact on a potential trade.